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15 October 2016

On The Tummy Spot: P.H.A.T Pho at Serendra

Ever since I had the chance to visit Vietnam a few years back, I have become a big-time fan of Vietnamese food that I try to eat it every chance I get but the quest for a decent Vietnamese restaurant here in Manila is not that easy. But there are a few here and there who can satisfy my cravings...

One of them would be P.H.A.T. Pho in Serendra. This Vietnamese joint is part of The Abaca Group of restaurants so I have high expectations and thankfully these were all met one Sunday lunchtime.

For starters I ordered one of my favorites - Goi Cuon with chilled shrimp. I can eat a handful of these in 1 sitting. These are rice paper wrapped rolls with vermicelli, peanuts, fresh herbs, daikon, carrots, mushrooms, and plump blanched shrimps with a nuc nam (sweet vinegary sauce - my fave), or the peanut sauce. I loved how it is so refreshing when you eat it and these ones from P.H.A.T. Pho were at least akin to the ones I had in Vietnam that just thinking about it makes me want to eat it again. I love these rice rolls!

My sister ordered herself the Saigon Baguette Banh Mi. A banh mi are the sandwich thingies in Vietnam. Very popular in Vietnam in the streetsides and everywhere, P.H.A.T. Pho's version pretty much stood up to its original counterpart. The baguette was crusty outside and soft in the inside. The sandwich layers had pickled vegetables, cilantro, cucumber slices, scrambled eggs, spring onions, cha lua, pressed meatballs, ham, and liver pate. The banh mi was so filling indeed and delicious as I was able to take a bite out of it.

Then we had P.H.A.T. Pho's noodle bowl-bun which was topped with grilled lemongrass pork and this was a bowl of amazing. Cold vermicelli noodles garnished with Vietnamese sausage, greens, cucumbers, crushed peanuts, daikon, pickled carrots, and fried shallots. This was just lovely! The pork was grilled just right and the flavors were amazing in this bowl. No need for rice, the cold vermicelli noodles were perfect.